WV Gourmet

Friday night, I put on my kevlar and waded my way through the downtown Charleston, WV transit mall to go to Rio Grande (or Big River in English). I could write about the food, but I’m not going to say much about that. It’s your basic local Mexican place where for a twenty dollar bill, you can get a belly full of pretty decent Mexican/Tex-Mex food AND have enough margaritas to float a battleship. I’m not going to write about the service, other than to say that the folks there are very quick to get your food to you. I’m going to write about the art, specifically the cockfight mural, which I have given the name: Little Jerry and El Guapo.

In this work of art, you will note that there is no audience, only the roosters and their trainers.  Mano y mano.  Pollo y pollo.  This is a pride match, not unlike the fight between Rocky and Apollo at the end of Rocky III.  Don Eduardo, whom you see in the forefront, taught Marcelino everything he knows about cockfighting.  Now, Marcelino and his young up and comer Rooster, Little Jerry, are engaged in a vicious cockfight with Don Eduardo and his prized rooster, El Guapo, who has a 73-0 record.  Little Jerry is closer to the viewer.  El Guapo has the upper hand right now, but you can see the fire in Little Jerry’s eye.  This is far from over.  There is no money on the line.  There are no spectators.  Just two men and their cocks, fighting for pride.  Who will win?  I don’t know.

Sure, they might not have been very good at paying their rent, but I was sorry to see Pullman Square’s Moe’s Southwest Grill close last year.

Fortunately for Huntington burrito lovers, Moe’s is back. Sure, it’s called “Dos Amigos“, but it’s a carbon copy of Moe’s, even seemingly down to the appliances and tableware.

This, as I discovered at lunch today, is emphatically a good thing. I grabbed their premium-priced pork burrito, piled with a tasty cilantro-lime flavored rice, black beans, a spicy home-made salsa, olives, and a sprinkle of fresh, shredded cilantro (yum) for $5.99, and left both well fed and happy.

It came with an acceptably heaping portion of hearty, fresh tortilla chips, and free access to a salsa bar where you’ll find a very passable, well-balanced pico de gallo and an excellent corn salsa, among other things.

Their menu is a lot slimmer than Moe’s, but they will make tacos or salads if you prefer, and offer ground beef, chicken, and steak in addition to the pork. The menu includes beer and margaritas, although neither are actually on sale just yet.

Moe’s Dos Amigos is brought to us, the Herald-Dispatch says, by the owners of the Hall of Fame cafe just across the road. As you’ll read in the link, they’re promising an emphasis on freshly made cuisine, and even though the staff were obviously still learning the ropes today, it’s a promise that rings pretty true. The marinated, slow-roasted pork was delicious, the range of salsas had been made with some skill, and the portion size was just right. I’ll be going back to try the chicken.

The best thing about it? There’s no embarassed-looking fool shouting “WELCOME TO MOE’S” at you when you walk through the door. That’s one Moe’s standby I am not sorry to see the back of.

Swing by the Rio Grande on 4th Ave. in Huntington, and you might be a little disconcerted when you see the parking lot is packed with police cruisers.

Don’t be. Who knows better than the five-oh where to go for quick, cheap, and filling eats? They’re really onto something with Rio Grande, a regular lunch favorite of mine, because you can get food like the below for $6.50, and in less than five minutes.

Fajitas at Rio Grande, Huntington

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